Sources Must Be Locked Up When The Laboratory Is Unattended
| Northwestern University recently received a repeat citation for noncompliance with the radiation regulations because inspectors were able to enter unattended laboratories where radioactive materials were not locked up. |
Everyone understands the inconvenience of having to lock up the laboratory each time one leaves. That view is as clear as the law that requires security. For those who are not aware of the background, security always has been the law. But it was not until 1995—when incidents occurred at two other research institutions—that security became the big deal it is today. In those incidents, intentional acts by knowledgeable persons who had unauthorized access to unsecured sources caused others to be exposed to radioactive materials. The incidents resulted in investigations by the FBI, Congress, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). For a while it looked like NRC was prepared to make sweeping and draconian changes to the security regulations. In the end they did not, but the message went out to their licensees and state regulators: security violations would not be tolerated.
Those laboratories cited in 1995, and the research performed in them, were no different in kind than most laboratories at Northwestern. The investigators used millicurie quantities of P-32 and other radionuclides in life-science applications. In the investigators' absence, someone was able to take their stock materials and do considerable harm.
Now Northwestern has been cited for noncompliance in successive inspections. Repeated citations jeopardize not only your individual authorization but the University's broad license. The vice president for research must explain to the state authority what will be done to ensure compliance. That action will be to apply the enforcement policy when ORS staff find unsecured sources. Three citations in five years mean that one's authorization is suspended.
Lock up your sources within the lab, or lock the door when you leave.
Use this NUtrino as a training tool. Circulate it among the radiation workers in your group and have them sign and date the training form on the back. File it with your authorization and other radiation safety documents for review during regulatory inspections. Discuss it during laboratory meetings. We have back issues, or you can print them off the Web.